


gg, ez

by Lalocheziac



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23725654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalocheziac/pseuds/Lalocheziac
Summary: In which Kiku is an Overwatch streamer. A very good one, at that.B̶a̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶a̶m̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶u̶r̶n̶a̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶A̶l̶f̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶#̶1̶Big plans ahead, inspired by Overwatch League.
Relationships: America/Japan (Hetalia), Canada/Prussia (Hetalia), Denmark/Norway (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

_Dink!_ _  
__  
_ “Nice, Widow. Ana down. Mercy’s low, she’s going for rez-” _  
__  
__Dink!_ _  
__  
_**Double Kill!** **  
****  
** “Mercy down! No supports, diving now! Tracer’s on me-” **  
****  
**_Dink!_ _  
__  
_**Triple Kill!** **  
****  
** “Thanks-” **  
****  
**_Dink! Dink! Dink!_ _  
__  
_**_Quintuple Kill!_** ** _  
_****_  
_** “Holy shit dude, our widow popped off!”  
**_  
_****_  
_****_T E A M K I L L_** ** _  
_****_  
_**   
“Hell yeah, thanks dude. I thought we were done.”  
  
“Oooh~ We got a carry! My SR says thanks!”  
  
“Carry POG carry POG carry POG-”  
  
  
**_V I C T O R Y_**  
  
  
“Wait. Isn’t that-”  
  
“That’s a fake account with the same name, right-”  
  
“We’ve been playing with him this whole time I-”  
  
“IT’S REALLY HIM HE’S STREAMING-”  
  
“OH MY GOOOO-”  
  
Voice chat left.  
  
  
**_PLAY OF THE GAME_** ** _  
_****_KIKU_** ** _  
_**_SHARPSHOOTER  
__  
_  
Leave Game? Are you sure? _  
__  
_ Match left.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Kiku gently massaged his wrist as he sat back in his chair. Chat was going wild, as they usually did. He nodded and quickly queued up for a new game. This time he chose Support.   
  
“Now, thank you for the donation. I hope you enjoyed your requested Widowmaker game. Chat, please say thank you to Lalo14 for the large donation. I don’t usually like to encourage high risk game play, but since it was requested I had to. Playing Widowmaker on Defense on last point with Overtime ticking down is never a reliable idea. It worked out this time, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll probably just feed the enemy team and give them ult charge.”    
  
Chat was filled with LessThanThrees and KikuHugs.   
  
“We’re playing support next. I’m going to show you what the Mercy in our last game wasn’t doing. I’m going to show you how to keep your teammates topped up and how to prioritize targets. Also, when a teammate is naded, please always use damage boost rather than staying on heals.”    
  
Kiku reached for a bottle of water to his right as a new Donation appeared.    
  
**TooCool4UwU Donated $5!**   
‘hello! i’m new to the community! chat is cute af! streamer is so cool! but. Is he cute??? do you use a webcam?’   
  
“Chat? Can you please spam !webcam? If you have any questions, I’m sure you can find the answer in my list of commands.”   
  
Chat now read rows of “Kiku does not want to be known for appearances, looks, facial features, etc. This stream was created to share tips for winning matches and climbing ranks. Streamer is really great at the game, so please try your best to learn. Please get on Streamer’s level so he is not bored anymore. Also Streamer’s room is hella messy so no cam KikuThump KikuThump”   
  
Kiku set his water aside and began to get ready for his next match. “With Mercy, you have to have nerves of steel, as toxicity often gets flung your way. You have to make snap decisions, prioritize targets and justify your choices. For this lesson, we’ll equip the appropriate skin.”   
  
He clicks and scrolls down her menu. “Like a doctor, you have to be decisive, swift, and most of all . . .” He equips Dr. Ziegler, “really freaking cool-looking.” Just as he is about to get into a game, he hears it.    
  
_ Thump Thump Thump _ _  
_ _  
_ Someone is coming up to this attic. Up the stairs. Into his domain.   
  
“Oh no chat. Please ready yourselves.”   
  
He ends his match search.   
  
  
“ _ Kiku?! Are you still playing that game?!” _   
  
_ Thump Thump Thump _ _  
_ _  
_   
“Chat, please prepare the proper protocols. An angry Aru approaches.”   
  
Chat was now furiously stacking, massive waves of emotes were now filling the text space. Confused new followers were swept away in the spam.    
  
“Chat, I’ll see you tomorrow, I’ll catch up on new subs then. Please stay hydrated-”    
  
  
_ “Kiku! It’s four in the morning! Aiya, What are you thinking?!” _ _  
_   
Kiku glanced back at his frantic chat,   
  
  
  
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie   
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru   
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie   
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru   
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie   
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru   
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie   
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru   
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie  
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru  
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie  
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru  
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie  
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru  
AiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanieAiyayaMeanie  
MonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaARUMonkaAru  
  
  
  
“If nothing else, chat, please remember, to win, you just need to-”   
  
His door was being ripped open -   
  
_ “Kiku! We’ve talked about this!” _ _  
_   
Yao’s figure came heaving into his room-   
  
_ “Aiya, those stairs are so awful! Kiku, this stupid OverWhatever is Over, NOW!” _ _  
_   
  
  
  
Kiku held his mic up to his lips,    
  
“You just need to git good.”   
  
  
  
  
Stream ended. **_  
_ **


	2. Chapter 2

“Kiku. You know as your guardian I have a say in what you should be prioritizing at this point in your life, aru. I get that you have this - this distraction but-” Kiku coughed quietly at this, so Yao backtracked, “Er, hobby. You have this hobby. It’s disrupting your chances of getting into a good university, Kiku.” Yao drew closer to Kiku, who so far had been sitting silently on his bed. He had been staring steadily ahead at his monitor the whole time. Yao patted Kiku’s shoulder.   
  
“Aru, Kiku. It pains me to see you get stunted like this. You had such good grades in school, and now you’re floundering at this next crucial step. You said you’ve been applying to colleges, but our mailbox is empty! You haven’t specified what you want to do next! I’m really worried, aru.”   
  
Kiku nodded once, and tried to speak, “I like playing these games. I’m doing really well, and I think I could eventually make something out of this. I just need a little time to-” Yao threw up his hands in exasperation.  
  
The nerve of this kid!   
  
“Kiku, aiya, games are not going to help you in real life. I’ve been patient, I’ve been waiting all summer for you to make a move! If you won’t recognize the time you’ve been wasting, then I’ll just have to make a move for you, aru.” Yao glanced at Kiku, eyes almost exuding sympathy for a brief second. No, he needed resolve! “I’m going to have to take away your internet privileges, Kiku.”  
  
Kiku turned his head swiftly, showing his disbelief to Yao. “You’re bluffing. You can’t do anything, you barely know how to use your Facebook, let alone how to control the internet here.”   
  
Yao sniffed as he raised his head. “I’m going nuclear here, Kiku. I’m just trying to do what’s right for your future. You need to get your head out of the gutter. That’s why I called our internet people and cancelled our service for next month. I also called our phone company and limited our data limit. We both now have 2 giga-whatevers of usable internet. This is going to be a strain for both of us, but I’m sure it’s for the best, aru.”   
  
Kiku thought frantically as Yao continued to spout his ‘Better for the Future’ rhetoric. No internet would mean no more Twitch, no more Overwatch, no more competition. He did have some savings (thank you chat, for all the sub trains), but he hadn’t wanted to part from his home so quickly. He glanced around his small attic space. He had posters of various games plastered on the low ceilings. His bed, small but comfy, had been where he watched and analyzed other streamers on his phone, staying up way into the wee hours of the morning in hopes of getting a better sense of tactics.   
  
He stood up, ignoring Yao’s attempt to hug him, and strode forward toward his set-up. His own PC, that he had spent hours assembling, sat atop a plain black desk. He patted the top of his monitor, thinking of how many hours he spent at this exact spot, grinding, losing, tilting, practicing, winning, and even just talking to chat about seasonal anime.  
  
He would miss this a lot.  
  
As it was, he realized this situation was no longer sustainable. He would have to adjust. He needed to be flexible. The meta had changed.  
  
He sensed Yao approach him, and remained quiet as Yao said his last words on the matter. “Kiku, I just want you to know I care about you, I care about your future. This hobby is just too destructive, aru. We’ll adjust together.” Yao gently clapped Kiku on the shoulder, lingering for a few more seconds before sighing and making his way to the door and down the attic stairs. After a few seconds, Yao’s voice gently called up, “We’ll make mochi tomorrow, so please get some rest, aru . . I love you.”   
  
Kiku said nothing as he turned on his PC and started a new livestream.    
  
“Chat, I must ask for your assistance . . .”   
  


* * *

  
  
Meanwhile, in a different household . . .   
  
  
“Ve~! Fratello, grandpa wants to know if you want any dessert tonight!”  
  
Romano clenched his teeth as he frantically healed his teammates. “Fuck off right now, Feli, I swear to God if we lose another match-!” Romano gripped his mouse hard as he twisted his view on the monitor.   
  
“Ve~ I’ll just tell him you’d love dessert, good luck on your matches!”  
  
Romano heard the door click shut, and leaned in even closer to his computer. He smashed his voice chat key, “Alright, you fuckers! Ever heard of not throwing?! Why the hell are you playing Junkrat and Genji against a fucking Pharah and Mei?! What the fuck is this shit.” He had muted his team after they had lost first point, so if there were any replies, he didn’t hear them.  
  
“The fuck is this.” He whispered quietly as he scanned his teammate’s ult percentages. It was grim. The only ult coming online soon was Brigitte’s. They only had to hold for two more minutes, and Rein was really the only viable choice to pocket if the enemy pushed forward. Junkrat and Genji were off fuck who knows where in the enemy’s backline. Their second tank, D.Va was also feeding way ahead of the natural choke point of Anubis, practically in the enemy’s spawn back on first point. Clearly not helping the rest of their team defend second point at all.   
  
Romano spammed “Group up with me!” incessantly to no avail as he was assaulted with rockets from Pharah.  
  
Genji responded with “I need healing!”.    
  
The enemy team was slowly pushing forward towards their measly number of three on point. “Come back, you fucks! God fucking damn- who the fuck are you even trying to get back there?! The whole team is pushing point!” His other support, a Brigitte, was also spamming chat with “Group up with me!” Rein was doing his best to mitigate the damage, but the rocket spam from the enemy Pharah had whittled his shield down.  
  
“Barrier is giving out!”   
  
Rein fell back into the tiny room behind point, leaving Romano and Brigitte on their own without much of a shield. Romano tried his best to heal Brigitte before following Rein into the tiny room. He was getting decent ult charge for his frantic heals until he was blasted away from his tank by Pharah, who sent him to his spawn with a few rockets.  
  
He quickly tapped his keyboard, flicking through his teammates P.O.V’s. Finally, his DPS and D.va were heading back to point. In the meantime, his Rein had been pinned by the enemy Reinhardt and had died as well. Brigitte had used her ult, trying to stay alive. She had managed to stun the enemy Mei, and his returning D.va used her rockets to chase her away, giving them more space.  
  
It was now 4 vs. 5.  
  
Romano unmuted his team, if only to try one last ditch effort of teamwork. “Alright, you stupid fucks. I’m coming back online. We’ll have a 5 vs. 5. I have ult, so try to stay alive, and if you die, die on point.” He hopped his way out of spawn. He was met immediately with a Mei, but luckily D.Va was nearby and pushed her away with her boosters, finishing her off with her mini rockets.  
  
Romano knew they had to get a clean team kill to hold the point and win. He pocketed the D.va while glancing up at his team’s ultimate percentages.  
  
It might be possible to . . .   
  
“Hey, Genji, farm the tanks and get your blade. I’ll boost you. D.Va, you could use your ult to corral them in. Throw your mech on the bridge so they’ll have to take cover on point. Brigitte, I’m counting on you to stun the Reinhardt. Junkrat, it’s your job to pick up any stragglers after this with your riptire.” He knew it was a risky play, even more risky was the chance they’d actually listen to him. He had been a little toxic earlier, but hopefully they realized this was their last chance to win.   
  
The clock was dwindling, “Thirty seconds remaining.”  
  
His Genji seemed to be going along with the plan, his ult was almost fully charged. . . Romano steadied his finger over ‘Q’. But, then, suddenly, the enemy Mei signaled her return with a firm headshot with her icicle onto the Genji. “Cazzo!” Romano had to do it.   
  
“Plan is the same, I’ll just-”  
  
He smashed ‘Q’.   
  
“Heroes never die!”   
  
Romano zoomed towards Genji and frantically tried to get his rez off. Luckily, the Junkrat had been spamming grenades toward the Mei, forcing her to use her ice block. No one was able to pressure him.   
  
”Let’s get you back into the fight!”  
  
Immediately, Genji brought out his blade, D.va was able to shoot off her mech, and Rein tried a cheeky pin on the Mei who was just coming out of her ice block.   
  
“The dragon becomes me!”   
  
“Nerf this!”   
  
Romano flew up, damage boosting the Genji as he slashed his way towards the enemy supports, Lucio and Ana. Romano hoped the Ana would be too focused on taking cover from the D.Va bomb to try and sleep his Genji. She was, fortunately. Lucio managed to boop them, but Genji jumped forward once more and eliminated them in one fell swoop.   
  
The D.Va bomb was effective as well, thanks to the Brigitte being able to get behind the enemy Rein and stun him. The Pharah who had dropped down from the sky to hide behind his shield was also eliminated. That had left the Mei, “had” being the operative word. Rein charged into her as she came out of her ice block and rammed her into one of the pillars of the choke point. The Junkrat tire wasn't even necessary.   
  
_**T E A M K I L L** _   
  
The game chimed, “Ten seconds remaining!” Romano muted his teammates once more, not interested in anything they had to say. Stupid fucking idiots like that didn’t deserve to have a win beside him. If it wasn’t for him, they’d have lost! He clicked on a sitting emote, finally relaxing back into his chair as he watched Mercy gracefully float to sit on the ground. 

**  
_V I C T O R Y  
_   
  
** Romano quickly left the match and closed the game. He tossed his headset carelessly onto his bed. It was time to head downstairs and greet his grandpa.   
  


* * *

  
  
“Ve~, Romano is almost done, I think. He also said he wants dessert.”  
  
Feliciano bounced cheerfully into the kitchen, where his grandfather was preparing dinner. He was visiting from Europe, and had wanted to make a great meal for his grandsons to enjoy. “Oh, good, good. I haven’t seen Romano in awhile. I hope he likes the napoleons I’ve brought. I haven’t seen you two in awhile, now. Are you two doing fine here all by yourself?”  
  
Feliciano beamed as he took a seat at the breakfast bar, “Yeah, we’ve been good! The house is very big, but Romano likes all the space. He doesn’t usually come out of his room, though, but I know he appreciates it! He’s been playing his game a lot! I’m really happy, you know, because Ludwig plays the same game! So maybe this will help them get along better!” Feliciano swung his legs happily underneath his chair as his grandpa popped his head out of the oven.   
  
“Feli, what sort of game is this? It must be great if Roma's been playing it so much.”   
  
“It’s called Overwatch! It looks really pretty, and Romano plays it everyday! It makes him really happy even though he yells a lot when he plays it.” His grandpa smirked, “Oh really, now. Overwatch, eh? Well/ This is quite an interesting development. You see, you know how I love to make investment in eccentric avenues. . . Let me tell you something, I’ve recently acquired something of a team. . .”  
  


* * *

  
  
Romano was on his way downstairs when Feliciano, a blur, smacked into him. They fell clumsily, and Romano was about to shove his brother off when he heard, “Roma! Grandpa bought an E-Sports team and wants to put you on it!! Isn’t this so cool!! Do you think Ludwig can join? Wow! I want to play Overwatch with you! We can all play together!”    
  
What the fuck.  
  
What the fuck.  
  
Did he hear him wrong?   
  
Romano tried to express his thoughts, “What the -”   
  
“Oh, Romano my boy, how you’ve grown! Oh, I see Feli has told you the good news! When I invested, I was a little iffy on the details, but my advisor showed me the amount of money E-Sports can pull in. Wowie! I jumped on the wagon as soon as I was able! You’ll help me make this investment good, right? Feli told me you play this game everyday! You must be so good, Roma!”  
  
Romano was not able to process this information. Feli and grandpa were crazy!   
  
“I-I - it’s a whole team?!” He sputtered out as he shoved an excited Feli off of him.   
  
“Eh, well. It was somewhat of a bargain. Most of the team left, so we’ll have to build it up from scratch. But! We already have most of it here!” Grandpa moved to hug both of them, “Feliciano said you play, he even said his boyfriend Ludwig plays, and Feli can probably join in too! We just need two more people.”   
  
Romano turned red, “He’s not his boyfriend! He’s just some stupid German weirdo who play stupid games with his stupid brother-”  
  
“We’ll let his brother join too!” Grandpa cried in excitement.  
  
“-and Feli can’t even play, he’s awful! He cries when his teammates get mad, he feeds, he picked Widowmaker because he thinks she’s pretty but he has no aim-”   
  
Grandpa put his hand up, and Romano fell silent.  
  
“Now, Romano, I understand your concerns, I do, but really, don’t you see what I’m asking? I need help with this investment, and I would really appreciate it if you helped me. I’ll be the first to admit I have no idea what this game is, I don’t know who window marker is, I don’t know what sort of players we need. But,” Grandpa’s eyes twinkled, and god dammit, Romano knew he was going to help with this shitty team, “I was really happy when Feli told me you play this game, that you know this game, and that you love this game. I immediately saw an opportunity for us to bond and spend more time together. If you were to help me with this project, Roma, I’d be the happiest grandpa on the Earth.”   
  
Feliciano was quietly crying because he was a fucking sap and Grandpa was hugging them both and Romano was feeling oddly touched that his _nonno_ wanted his help and fuck, it was too goddamn wholesome and sweet.  
  
“Fuck it, sure. Fine. Whatever. I’m hungry. I’ll agree to anything at this point if we could just go down to the fucking kitchen and eat.”   
  
Feli actually cheered and his grandpa clapped a hand on his back. “Good, good! I knew you’d come around!” Romano rolled his eyes as he headed downstairs with his family. “Just don’t expect much from me. And listen to me when I tell you Feli is fucking trash at the game, and don’t just go hiring any poor schmuck off the street, alright? We need people who are actually good.”   
  
Grandpa spoke up, “Well, about the hiring process, I thought I’d just leave it to you two. Like I said, I know next to nothing about the game, so . . .” Grandpa trailed off, his hands coming up in a ‘what can you do’ gesture.   
  
Romano sighed. Ludwig and his mess of a brother were the only two people he knew played the game. “Well, I guess we could see about the potato dunces playing, though we’d have to test their skills. Other than that, I can’t think of anyone I know personally who plays Overwatch.” Feliciano came from behind him, leaning his head on Romano’s shoulder, “Ve~, why don’t we eat now and invite them over later this evening? We’ll worry about everything else then!”  
  
"I suppose . . ."   
  
Romano's thoughts were whirling. Him? On a professional team? He could feel anxiety bubbling up deep in his chest. Alongside it, however, was excitement, and pride. He was in top 500, and he knew the game very well. He just wasn't looking forward to showing his grandpa and Feli who his role was on his team.  
  
"By the way, Roma, what do you do in this game?" Before he could scramble and make healing sound cool, Feli butted in, "He plays a busty blonde lady and flies around! He has really really pretty wings, grandpa!"  
  
Romano changed his mind. He was going to uninstall Overwatch and never touch the damn thing again.   
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**_D E F E A T  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** “Aw, man! We had that! We totally had that! Right?! Chat, chat, slow down! We had that! Oh, stop with the Kappa spam.”  
  
Alfred reached for his drink as his eyes took in his chat, taking a swig before slamming it back down on his desk. “What do you mean I threw?! I did everything!”   
  
He slouched forward in his chair, “Oh no, chat! It’s happening again!” He slid dramatically to the floor, “My back gave out! Oh no!” He made pained noises on the ground, then made a show of flinging himself against his chair, only his head visible to his viewers as he sighed, “After such a hard carry, my back isn’t what it used to be, but - !” He grabbed another can of G-fuel from the stack under his desk, proudly displaying it above his head to the camera, “With a good dose of G-fuel, I can totally get back in the game with 100% power!”  
  
He clicked the can open, taking a generous swig before he gave his best grin, “You can carry too! For a limited time, you can unlock a 20% discount with my affiliate link down in my description! Or, you know, just spam the !Carry command and you’ll get a link in chat.” Alfred rose to sit back in his chair. His eyes flicked to the time.   
  
“Anyway. Well, I think I’ve gotta go now, guys. It’s my brother’s turn to hog the bandwidth, so if you want more Overwatch content, he’s pretty okay. Not as good as me, but at least you’ll have something to watch, right? Haha!”  
  
Alfred used his chair to glide up to the wall he shared with his brother’s room. He pounded on it with a fist, “Hey, Mattie! You hear that?! You can stream your bird lady now! I’m all done for the night!”   
  
He paused for a second, hearing a muffled reply, then a loud bang against his wall.  
  
“Her name is Pharah! And she’s way cooler than your stupid weeb robot!”  
  
Alfred chuckled, shaking his head, then slid back to his monitor. “Boy, Mattie is riled up tonight. Riddle me this chat, can you be a weeb if you’re Japanese? Anyway. Let’s see if we can appease him with a host.” His chat was filled with Pogchamps, and spammy LetsGoAganes. Alfred waved a small goodbye before closing his stream.   
  
A smaller thump hit his wall, and he heard a much softer, “Thanks for the host, dork.”   
  
He thumped back, “You’re welcome, nerd.”    
  
Alfred leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms and back out.   
  
Eight hour streams were no joke.   
  
He took in a deep breath and loudly exhaled. “Now then! I believe food is in order!”  He was about to leap out of his chair with energetic finesse when his phone began to buzz. He twirled around in his swivel chair, “What’s this?! A call for me?! Could it be a call for help!?”   
  
Alfred swiped to accept the call, ignoring Mattie’s raised voice, “Yeah, he does that whenever anyone calls. It’s _really_ obnoxious.”   
  
Alfred swung his arm out in a sweeping gesture, “Do you need a hero?! You’ve got one on the line, don’t worry!”   
  
Alfred once again ignored Mattie’s commentary, “Chat agrees with me. You’re _obnoxious_! You are actively being _obnoxious_!”   
  
Alfred wasn’t sure who called him yet, he couldn’t hear over Mattie’s shouts.   
  
“Hold on!” Alfred said to his mysterious damsel on the phone, “I have a really loud roommate who has no manners!”   
  
Mattie began kicking the wall so he exited his room and turned left into their small kitchen area.   
  
“Hey, what’s up!” Alfred grabbed an apple and took a crispy bite. “Mein Gott, you’re just as loud offstream.” “Hey! It’s my favorite German duo guy! What’s going on, GilBird? If you wanted to duo, I’m done streaming already, but we can do something tomorrow.”   
  
"Alfred, you can call me Gilbert. Using gamer tags offstream feels weird. Anyway, that’s not why I called.”   
  
“GilBird and Gilbert are pretty much the same, though! I guess that’s why you chose it. Anyway, I’m super hungry, dude. I just logged off an eight hour stream, so I need a few hours to get my hero strength back up.”   
  
“Well, I have some super awesome news that might help a bit! Have you ever thought about going pro?”   
  
Alfred took another bite of his apple. Pro? “Pro? Like, being sponsored on stream? I’ve already got a sweet deal with G-Fuel, I don’t know - “   
  
“No! I mean, like, being on an actual team! Being paid to be good! Showing off your skills to a crowd!”   
  
Alfred threw his finished apple in the bin. “How big is the crowd? Is this like a local tournament? That could be content for a stream - “  
  
“Mein Gott! Alfred, I can’t believe I’m having to tell  _ you _ of all people to think bigger. I mean the big leagues. As in the only, official league for Overwatch.”  
  
Alfred leaned against his counter, biting his lip. “Yeah, I guess that would be cool. Who knows when that’ll happen though.”   
  
Alfred heard a loud bang come through his phone, “Gilbert, stop that! You can’t just bang your head on someone else’s dinner table!” “Yeah, what the fuck is wrong with you, bastard?!” “Ve, are you okay, Gilbert?”   
  
Alfred was confused.   
  
“Hmm, GilBird, you sound like you’re at a dinner or something, isn’t it rude to be on the phone at the table?”   
  
“Alfred, normally, your obliviousness is charming, but dude. I’m going to spell it out here, I’m inviting you to be my teammate on an official Overwatch League Team. You want in?”  
  
Alfred took a few seconds to process what he had just heard.   
  
Holy shit.   
Alfred felt his heart race, “No joke? For real? Like, you’re not on stream or anything right now, this is real life?”   
  
“I swear, no joke dude.”   
  
Holy shit. “Holy shit!”  
  
Alfred ran to Mattie’s room, “Mattie! Mattie! Guess what!” He banged on the door, trying to open it. Upon finding it was locked, he hit the door harder and pushed with all his weight - “Alfred! What are you - My door!”, there was a loud crack and he fell into his brother’s room. “Mattie! I did it! I’m so good, I’m so good!” Alfred tried to get back up on his feet, but Mattie’s foot made serious contact with his shoulder, pushing him down.   
  
“You broke my door! What’s wrong with you - “   
  
“Mattie I’m on a team! I’m not sure what team, but a team! Gilbert, tell me, what team, Oh, I don’t care, we’ll be team America! Team USA, baby!” Alfred staggered up, ignoring the sting from Mattie’s kick. “Mattie, you sweet summer boy, all our dreams are coming true!”   
  
“What the fuck are you talking about, have you been drinking - “ Alfred grabbed Mattie and smothered him in a hug. “We’ll be the best team, just you wait! You can cheer me on!” Alfred could feel the adrenaline in his veins, imagine,  _ him _ , on a professional team!   
  
Alfred squeezed Matthew once, his chest full of happiness and excitement, and then let him go. Alfred lifted the phone back up to his ear and walked out, “Whew, that was great. Well, definitely count me in! A hero never turns down a chance for greatness!” Alfred paused in Mathew’s doorway, taking the phone off his ear to address Mattie’s stream, “Chat, you should clip that! That was my announcement that I’m going pro!”   
  
Mattie grabbed the nearest object and threw it at Alfred, “Don’t tell my chat what to do!”  
  
Alfred dodged the alarm clock. He gave a small wave, “Bye, Mattie, I’m going to GilBird’s place to celebrate, have a good stream!”    
  


* * *

  
  
“Dude, you should have told me you had such a nice pad! We could hold stream parties here!” was the first thing Alfred said as he was welcomed into the Vargas manor. “Eh, it’s not much, but yeah. We do okay.” Gilbert shrugged as he went in for a BroHug.  
  
A voice shrieked behind him, “This isn’t your fucking house, you idiot bastard!”   
  
Gilbert shrugged again, “With the rate Luddie and Feli are going, I’d say this would make a nice place to hold the wedding reception.  
  
” Alfred stepped into the house, taking in the size of the living room to his immediate right. “Whoa, this place is fancy.” He turned back towards Gilbert, “Mind introducing me to your gang?” Gilbert smiled cockily, “Yeah, alright. Well, you already know mein bruder, Ludwig. You can call him Luddie, though.” Ludwig gave a stern nod in his direction, then spoke, “I would actually prefer Ludwig, if you would.”   
  
Gilbert rolled his eyes, “Oh Luddie, what a silly guy. Anyway, the super cute Italian is off limits. His name is Feli, His angry twin, Romano, is free. He bites, if you’re into that.” The angry twin, Romano, promptly kicked Gilbert in the shins and strode towards Alfred.   
  
“Listen here, buddy, I’m the real decider of who gets to be on the team. This is my grandpa’s investment and I’m going to make sure it’s a damn good one! So if you can’t back up your supposed skill, then get the fuck out!” Romano emphasized his speech with a little shove at Alfred’s chest.   
  
“Whoa, whoa, there! Dude, I am so good at this game, you’ll be begging to have me! If you need any proof, I’ve got tons of VODs and clips on Twitch, and I’ve been featured in cool montages on YouTube like, a bajillion times!” Romano glared at Alfred for a second and stood up a little straighter. He said nothing, making only a small, “Hmph!” sound and turned on his heels to stand back with his brother. “Whatever, as long as you’re good, we’ll have no problems.”   
  
Alfred looked over to Gilbert, who once again just shrugged. “Well, who else is playing on the team? I know Gilbert and I will be the sickest DPS duo, but we still need heals and tanks too, I guess.”   
  
Romano rolled his eyes, then turned a little red. “I’m going to be your heals, and that potato bastard’s brother is going to be a tank. I’ve heard we have another tank player, but we’ve never met him. He was the only person to stay on the team when my grandpa bought it, so I guess we’ll meet him later. We do have an empty slot for heals, so -” Romano was cut off, by Ludwig of all people, “Well, I do have an idea if we’re recruiting streamers…”  
  
Romano huffed and made his way to Ludwig, kicking him for cutting him off.   
  
Ludwig didn’t even flinch, and carried on, “I’m somewhat friends, well, maybe professional acquaintances with a streamer who is very good at the game. He often gives very helpful tips, and I think he’d be a great asset to any team - “   
  
Feliciano lit up, “Ve! Is that the person you play with sometimes? Ve, Ludwig usually duos with no one because they can be “Unreliable” and “Unpredictable”, but this person is very good! Ludwig sometimes lets me watch him play, and he has so much fun when they play together! And also his voice is very soothing! And he even plays Mercy sometimes, just like you fratello!”  
  
Romano went beet red, “Shut the fuck up about that!”   
  
Alfred laughed, “Wow, a real life Mercy-main in person!” Gilbert started to chuckle, but stopped when Ludwig subtly punched his stomach. He wheezed and fell silent.   
  
Ludwig coughed into his fist, then said, “Yes. As I was saying. I often duo with him when he isn’t streaming. My win rates with him as my partner are extremely high, and I find his gameplay and communication very efficient.”   
  
Alfred whisted before he said, “Are you sure we aren’t getting two Mercy-mains on this team? I’ve seen people fight over Mercy, and it ain’t pretty. Can this dude play other supports?”   
  
Ludwig nodded, “Most definitely. This would work out for everyone. He’s been having some issues regarding his living situation, so this would work perfectly with our team requirements. He can come move his stuff in as soon as possible. I will attempt to get ahold of him now.” Ludwig turned from the group and swiftly took out his phone and walked to a quieter location.  
  
Alfred turned to Gilbert, “What does he mean about the living situation here?” Romano butted in before Gilbert could reply, “He means that if you’re gonna be on this team, you have to live here. Not my rules, but - “   
  
“They’re actually mine.”   
  
Alfred startled, and swung his head around to see an old dude with a big moustache.   
  
“Hello, you must be the newest team member! I’m the owner of this team, but more importantly, I’m Feliciano and Lovino’s grandpa! Nice to meet you!” Before he knew it, Alfred was engulfed in a hug. “As for the living situation, I feel that it would really help you all if you lived together. Building trust and bonds is important in any team! Since you hardly know each other, and what with the games starting soon, you need all the time you can get in order to be comfortable with one another!”   
  
Alfred pulled back after hearing that, worry replacing his excitement. He asked, “Do we have to?”   
  
The Italian grandpa nodded solemnly, “I strongly believe in this, so yes. In order to be on the team, you must live and practice together, as a team.” Alfred sighed, and nodded slowly, “Alright, I think I can swing that. I’ll have to work something out with Mattie, but it’s doable!”   
  
Gilbert patted his back, “It’ll be alright, this is a once in a lifetime chance!”   
  
Alfred’s spirits were lifted, “Yeah! You’re right! A hero never backs down from chances like this!”   
  
Romano rolled his eyes, leaving the sappy party behind him as he went into the kitchen.   
  
Ludwig came back into the living room to announce, “He has accepted our invitation. He asked me to relay his appreciation and gratitude and has informed me he will be getting an Uber and will arrive shortly.”   
  
Feli squealed and ran into the kitchen, “Romano! This feels like a party! We should get out the Napoleons! Everyone’s coming over tonight!”   
  
“They’re already here, idiot. And some stranger is coming over, more creepy than exciting if you ask me.”   
  
“Ve, help me get the plates ready!   
  
“Fine.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Kiku was emotionally exhausted.   
  
Last night was quite the bombshell, but he was proud of how he handled it. He looked once more at the monitor, eyes scanning his chat. This would be his last stream in this household for a long time.  
  
Maybe forever.   
  
  
“Mods, I leave the rest up to you, I trust in your judgement. Chat, thank you for helping me, I cannot express my gratitude very well right now. Just know that I’m, I’m,” Kiku took a moment to compose himself, “I’m very thankful that I have this community supporting me. You have all made me very happy. I promise I will not give up. Goodbye.”  
  
Kiku ended the stream.  
  
He got out of his chair, gave one last glance to his precious set up, and scurried out the window with a gym bag.   
  
It was evening. Dinnertime. Yao would be busy with his work in his study for a while yet, he never finished with his work in time to eat together.   
  
Kiku had some time.   
  
Kiku took a moment to close the window behind him, and made his way to the edge of the roof. He was not too far away from the ground, and because his room faced the front of the house, he was actually standing on the roof for the porch area. He carefully lowered his bag and tossed it to the ground. He stretched his limbs and prepared himself for the fall. The trick was to be loose and relaxed, and to remember to roll into the impact. That’s what the YouTube video for beginner’s parkour had said anyway.   
  
He could do this, he could do this. Just as he was about to make a leap down, his phone buzzed and he was startled out of his concentration.  
  
Just barely avoiding falling off the roof, Kiku managed to fall backwards and quickly stabilized himself against the wall of his bedroom.   
  
Kiku quickly grabbed his phone and answered it. He was not the type of person to miss calls.   
  
“H-hello?” Kiku tried to catch his breath quietly. “Is this Kiku?” A low voice asked. Kiku was confused, this was certainly unexpected.   
  
“Ludwig? Is that you? How are you? I hope you are doing well.”   
  
“Ah, yes. I am well. Thank you for asking. How are you?”   
  
“I am fine, thanks for asking. May I ask what warrants this call? I’m afraid I am unable to duo for awhile, at least until I get back on my feet.”   
  
”Actually, I was calling about that. You see, I have recently been invited on an Overwatch League team, and I was hoping you’d like to join me. This would be beneficial, as I watched your stream last night, so I’m aware of your unfortunate living circumstances. This offer includes a place to train and practice, warm food and a chance to wreck some newbs.”   
  
Kiku smiled, this was incredibly unexpected, but not unwelcome.   
  
“That’s, well, quite frankly, that’s pretty much the ideal solution to my unfortunate situation. Count me in.” Kiku could practically hear the grin from his longtime professional acquaintance.   
  
“Very well. I’ll give you the details on the location of our new training camp…”  
  
...  
  
  
Kiku said his goodbyes and thank yous to Ludwig. Before he left his home, there was one more thing he wanted to do. This opportunity presented more paths he could take.   
  
“Hey, chat, sorry. One last thing. If you could please help me once more…”  
  


* * *

  
  
Yao was exhausted. His clients weren’t in the best of moods today, Kiku wasn’t talking to him, and the mochi they had tried to make turned out awful.  
  
Kiku had left the kitchen as soon as they were done and had holed himself up in his room. Yao was intending to eat dinner together, to maybe talk once more about the internet issue. However, his work had dragged on and he missed his chance. It was already eleven.   
  
He wanted to reassure Kiku once more that the whole internet business was for his own good. If he could just understand, if he could just see what Yao was trying to do… Shaking himself from his thoughts, Yao decided to head upstairs to Kiku’s lair to try once more to make him see sense.  
  
As he walked up the incredibly long and unnecessarily steep staircase, Yao found it suspicious that he heard no noises. Maybe Kiku had fallen asleep? Yao reached the top, knocking on the door once before swiftly pushing it open. “Kiku, aru? Are you awake?”  
  
Yao first noticed that the computer monitor was still on. The blue light lit up the room. He didn’t see Kiku.   
  
“Kiku?” He asked more urgently, striding towards an empty bed. He knew it was futile, but he tossed the blankets and pillows off the bed. He certainly wasn’t under any covers. He spun around, Moving the office chair aside and looked under the desk. Nothing. He glanced at the desk itself, and immediately snatched up a note.    
  
_ Username: Kiku   
Password: AruAruThisIs4U _   
  
_ Stream at your convenience. Explanations will follow. _   
  
“What? What does this mean…?”    
  
Yao slowly looked up at the monitor for the computer. It was that purple site again. Apparently, the internet people had yet to disconnect the internet so the site was still active. Yao pulled the office chair closer so he could sit on it. He looked closely at the monitor once more. It was a sign-in page. Yao did the natural thing and used the information he was given.   
  
“What on earth is this website anyway? What am I streaming?”   
  
Darn Kiku and his childish games!   
  
“Aru, Kiku, where are you?!”


	4. Chapter 4

“I call it here boys, we’re officially a winning team now!”    
  
These were the impressively loud words Kiku was met with when the door to the equally impressive house swung open. Kiku wanted to take a step back away from the noise, but fought this urge. It would not be polite, and first impressions were important.    
  
He tried to give his greetings, bowing out of habit as he said, “Hello, I am Kiku, nice to meet you.” He felt a hand pat his back and he immediately straightened and moved away from the physical contact. He flushed slightly as he realized that might have come across as strange, and was ready to apologize when the person who touched him just  _ moved closer -  _ _  
_ _  
_ “Gott, what reflexes! Hey, Luddie, you didn’t tell me he was korean! We’ve totally got thi-” The person who violated his personal space, who he would come to know as Gilbert, was promptly smacked in the back of the head by a very solid and tall man. “Luddie” firmly moved Gilbert aside and said something angrily in German.    
  
He turned to face Kiku and held out a hand, giving a disdainful glance towards his brother before saying, “My brother Gilbert is an idiot, and I apologize for his behavior.” Kiku reached to firmly grasp the hand, recognizing the voice of his duo-ing partner. “It is very nice to meet you in person, Ludwig. I look forward to being on this team with you.” Ludwig nodded and replied, “Likewise.”   
  
Kiku’s nerves were soothed by Ludwig’s professionalism, and he was thankful for his friend’s presence. He stubbornly ignored the feelings of homesickness that had been tugging at his heart during his Uber ride. “I will introduce you  _ appropriately _ ,” Ludwig gave a stern glance to Gilbert, who had hid behind Feliciano, “to everyone, so please, come in and allow me to carry your luggage inside.”    
  
Ludwig gently took his duffel bag from his hand and motioned him forward into the house. Kiku obliged him, and cautiously walked through the threshold. His eyes first landed on a person who he would learn was the embodiment of the word “Excitement”.    
  
The practically vibrating person began to bounce on the balls of his feet as he introduced himself, “Wow! Hi! My name is Feliciano, but you can always just call me Feli, everyone does! Ve, Ludwig reminded me that not everyone likes to be greeted with hugs, but I want you to know I’m so excited to meet you and also you have a very soothing voice! I fall asleep to it sometimes!”   
  
Kiku flushed yet again, caught off-guard by the last comment. He was not sure how to respond, but was saved by Ludwig, who appeared to be flustered as well, “Feliciano often watches behind my shoulder when we duo, so please do not be concerned about his comment.” Feli just giggled, and then another version of him stepped forward.   
  
This new Feli was not as bouncy or happy as the first.   
  
“What the fuck kind of greeting was that, Feliciano? He’s going to think we’re all fucking creepy now!” Kiku immediately stood up straighter, feeling intimidated by this angry new person. “I’m Romano, and that’s how I’ll be addressed, no fucking nicknames here, got it? In-game, my name is Lovino, so you better remember and don’t get them mixed up! And speaking about getting mixed up, you better not mistake me for my little brother!” Romano gestured to Feli, who just nudged his older brother, “Ve, Roma, you don’t get mad when I use your nickname, and you always respond when I call you by your gaming name even when you aren’t playing!”    
  
Romano huffed and looked very angry, turning towards his brother. Before the situation could escalate, Kiku stepped forward and said, “I don’t mind. I would prefer if you all told me what you’d like to be called. I also am not comfortable with nicknames, so I understand. It is not at all an imposition.”    
  
Romano turned away from his brother to look at him, seeming to size him up. When he was done with his assessment, he nodded once and reached forward to shake Kiku’s hand. “You’re not bad. You at least have some manners, unlike these fucking idiots.” Romano shook his hand once, then stepped back beside his brother. An awkward silence descended upon the room.   
  
Not bothered by the quiet, Kiku did an assessment of the situation. He did the math and figured there were at least two more teammates he should meet. He surveyed the foyer they were in, searching for the missing players.   
  
As if reading his mind, Ludwig spoke, “We have a full roster as of now. You were the last and final player to be recruited. We will have a team of six, however, one player is a mystery to all of us. We do not fully know all the details on them yet, but there is one more player here for you to meet. His name is-”    
  
“Yo! Dude! Feli, those neapolitans you guys have are super good!”    
  
Kiku turned his head to the direction the voice came from.    
  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Romano facepalm as he muttered, “Napoleons, you fucking idiot.”    
  
Kiku focused his attention to the final member he would be meeting tonight. A tall blond bespeckled person came striding out of what he assumed was the kitchen. “Man, those really hit the spot! I bet my brother could make ‘em better, though, he’s really good at cooking-” Kiku instinctually took a step away from Romano, as Kiku felt he was a good judge of character and first impressions were usually spot-on.    
  
His instincts were right, as Romano sputtered and surged forward, indignant and angry because  _ his nonno _ had brought those and-    
  
Before he could get any closer, Feli had grabbed his arm and was tugging him towards the kitchen. “Ve, he’s just homesick, Roma! I’m sure he’s missing his brother a lot right now. Let’s get out some beverages to serve!”   
  
Kiku was so focused on the ruckus the two twins were making on the way to the kitchen that he didn’t notice that the loud stranger was now looking at him.    
  
“Hmm, I didn’t think you’d be so short.” Kiku stiffened his shoulders and turned to face his new teammate.   
  
“I’m a very average height, actually!” Kiku replied, louder than he usually would.   
  
He was beginning to realize that if he were to have a voice on this team, he might have to adapt to the level of noise these players were used to. Kiku internally sighed as he stared down at his shoes. All these new adaptations would surely come with growing pain, but he would deal with that later.   
  
For now, he was determined to make this situation work. It had to.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Alfred had wandered into the kitchen while the others chatted amongst themselves in the living room. He decided he might as well get used to the most important room in the house he was going to be staying in for the next few months.   
  
The kitchen had always been a nice place for him. After streams, he loved to rummage through the fridge and take bedtime snacks back into his room. He loved waking up to Mattie cooking breakfast, loved to sit at the counter while he waited for those delicious pancakes to be done, loved to talk about what someone said on stream, who donated what, how many subscribers he gained, all that cool stuff.  
  
He even liked doing the dishes, feeling that it was only fair of him since Mattie did most of the cooking. Alfred sighed, and looked around the huge kitchen. Everything looked too clean and expensive for a cozy kitchen.  
  
At their apartment, the cabinets never really closed properly and sometimes squeaked when you opened them too fast. The fridge was on the smaller side, and decorated with silly post-it notes from Mattie, usually saying things like, “You forgot to put the milk away, asshole”, and super cool doodles Alfred himself had made. The chairs at the small table they had were mismatched and the stove was a nice faded blue color, which was cool. Not at all like the stainless steel stuff they had here.  
  
Alfred let his mind wander all over his feelings of homesickness and his conversation with Mattie. Mattie had basically given him a “Good luck, call if you need anything, but also please think twice about what you ‘need’ and make sure it isn’t a ‘want’”. Which sounded nice, but also Alfred was feeling like Mattie could have been a bit more honest about his feelings. He didn’t have to put on a brave face, after all, he must be terrified of living alone.  
  
Alone without a hero to protect him!  
  
Alfred glanced at the pristine stove and felt a pang of sadness.   
  
Alfred ran a hand through his hair and pushed his glasses tightly against his nose. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.   
  
He would be fine, he decided.   
  
He’d show Mattie he could make it big on the professional scene! He’d take a lot of pictures of the new Mansion he lived in to show off to him! And he would have a lot of fun with Gilbert on his team!  
  
Spirits lifted, Alfred was about to go back into the living room to wait for the mystery player to arrive, but then he was distracted by a tray of little cakes with zebra stripes on them. He had heard of these cakes before from a cooking show Mattie liked to watch.   
  
“Hmm, I think I deserve a treat for cheering myself up!”   
  
Alfred ate a few cakes before deciding to head back into the room with the others. He wiped his hands on his pants as he announced to the others, “Yo! Dude! Feli, those neapolitans you guys have are super good!”   
  
He wiped a few crumbs from his face as he walked into view of the others. “Man, those really hit the spot! I bet my brother could make ‘em better, though, he’s really good at cooking-” Alfred saw that Romano was getting mad about something again and was going to try to calm him down as a hero would normally do, but then he noticed there was another person in the room.  
  
_This is the new teammate?_ _  
__  
__Oh boy.  
  
  
__Oh, boyyyy.  
__  
  
__Oh man.  
__  
__  
_ Alfred stared at the new person who had yet to notice his gaze.  
  
  
Finally, after a few seconds, the stranger looked up and met his eyes.  
  
  
_What a cutie._


	5. Chapter 5

“Hmm, I didn’t think you’d be so short.”  
  
Alfred often said the first thing that came to his mind, and this was especially true for when he was nervous.  
  
Thankfully, this time he said the _second_ thing that came to his mind. Had he mentioned he thought the new guy was cute upon their first meeting, _oh boy_ , he might just die, just right there, on the spot - a voice in his head told him that Mattie would be having a field day if he were here to witness this sudden burst of nervousness from his usually confident brother - not that he was nervous now, _per say,_ but he certainly didn’t want his new really cute teammate to think he was stupid or weird or awkward or dumb-   
  
“I’m a very average height, actually!”   
  
_And now the cute guy was getting mad at him -_ Alfred frantically thought of something he could say to fix his introduction - “And I’m Alfred! Nice to meet you, A very average height, actually!”   
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Alfred saw Gilbert slam his head against the doorway to the living room. The resounding _thonk!_ was the only sound to be heard.  
  
Alfred sheepishly smiled at the cute guy in front of him. He mentally apologized to him and hoped he didn't take first impressions too seriously. Dad jokes were arguably the easiest and weakest jokes to execute, but he'd take this over dying of embarrassment.  
  
The new cute person looked incredibly perplexed for a very fast second before wiping his emotions off his face. The new person raised a hand towards him, as he stiffly said, “Haha, nice to meet you, Alfred.” Alfred quickly met Kiku’s hand with his own, surprised at how gentle the other’s grasp was. “My name is actually Kiku. I look forward to working together.” Kiku retracted his hand, then gave him a small bow.  
  
Alfred wasn’t a weeb, _despite what Mattie said,_ but he returned the gesture because that’s what polite people did in the shows he watched. And he wanted Kiku to think he was Polite.  
  
And Cool.  
  
Maybe he could even swing for Handsome.  
  
Ludwig coughed once, drawing attention to himself in attempt to clear the awkwardness out of the air. He walked forward, next to Kiku and announced, “I think we should all get acquainted with the house and our respective rooms, then have our first dinner as a mostly completed team. Maybe we could discuss our roles and get to know one another.” Alfred found himself nodding, remembering that’s what he was here for. He glanced at Kiku, who was wearing a very serious expression.  
  
Alfred followed everyone up the stairs, hoping he’d get to know Kiku better during all this.   
  
The thought that he got to show off his amazing Genji play in front of Kiku made him eager to get everything started.  
  


* * *

  
They had been standing at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor for only two minutes as Romano explained the layout of the house when things began to fall apart.  
  
“Now, Feliciano and I have our rooms on the second floor, you guys are up on the third-” Romano’s brief tour was cut off by Feliciano, who whined, “But there’s an empty room next to mine! Ve, why can’t Ludwig stay there? There are three rooms on every floor! I want him and I to be next to each other!” Romano’s expression turned sour, and that’s where Kiku lost the thread of the conversation, as the twins began their usual back and forth argument, escalating to Romano shouting in Italian and Feliciano crying.  
  
Ludwig did his best to intervene, placing a gentle hand on Feliciano’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but that made Romano even angrier, causing more shouting.   
  
Kiku felt extremely uncomfortable, shifting the weight of his duffel bag from one hand to the other as he stood quietly, unsure of what to do. He decided the best thing to do would be to remove himself from the situation. With this in mind, Kiku inched back from the vocal altercation in front of him and pretended to admire the paintings near the staircase that lead to the third floor. He maneuvered his way past Gilbert, who seemed to be texting someone on his phone, unfazed by the scene in front of him.  
  
Kiku took that as a sign that this was a normal occurrence.  
  
He was nearly to the staircase when he felt someone bump into his back. He immediately jumped forward, startled by the sudden touch. He stumbled on the loose carpet beneath him and was going to fall. Before he could fall any further, he felt a hand on his elbow pull him back from certain embarrassment. A loud whisper came from behind him, “Whoa, dude, sorry! I saw you were ninja-ing your way outta here and I was trying to follow. I’m not so good at sneaking, haha.”  
  
Kiku silently disagreed, as he had no idea Alfred was even behind him. Alfred sheepishly removed his hand from his elbow, “Let’s leave these dudes to duke it out, I’m excited to see my room, how about you?” Kiku gave Alfred a small smile, appreciating that someone else was just as unnerved by all the shouting as he was.  
  
Arguments were something he firmly believed should be a private affair. Even the arguments he had with Yao were never this loud...  
  
Kiku shoved that thought away. He shouldn’t be thinking of things that could drag him down to feeling homesick. Alfred had led the way up the stairs, and Kiku quickly followed, not wanting to garner the attention of the others.  
  
Where the second floor was decorated in warm colors such as yellows and burnt oranges, the third floor hallway was a light, airy blue with white furniture. Kiku stopped at the top of the stairs to assess the living space. The hallway stretched out similarly to the second floor, meaning one room was at the end of the hallway and the other two were settled next to each other alongside the hallway wall. Kiku felt that the last room at the very end of the hallway would be the prime location, as no one would be on either side of him.  
  
However, his polite nature told him to let the others choose, as they had arrived at the house first, after all. Though, Alfred brought up a very good point, which made him reconsider his initial assessment, “You know, I think Romano’s room is under that one at the end of the hallway. Haha, if you stepped too loudly or dropped something I bet he’d be super mad!” Alfred walked forward, surveying their options.  
  
Before he or Alfred could choose or discuss the other room choices, Gilbert ran up the stairs, nudging Kiku out of his way as he made a beeline to the room that was on top of Romano’s. He did not seem to care too much about this, as he said, “Dibs on the back room! Feli said the rooms on Romano’s side of the house have a sweet bathtub hook-up that none of the other rooms do!” Gilbert eagerly ran to his new room and threw his bag in, saying, “I’m going to get myself introduced to the bath, see you guys at dinner!” His door slammed and Kiku was left with a vague sense of a win, as he did not want to have to worry about Romano’s temper in any way outside of the game.  
  
Alfred must’ve thought the same as he gave out a big sigh, “Man, that was lucky! Looks like we’re neighbors now, Kiku!”  
  
Kiku was surprised at how happy Alfred seemed to be, his smile was very wide and his blue eyes seemed to glitter behind his glasses. Kiku gave a smile in return, Alfred was very friendly and his happiness was surprisingly contagious. Kiku was comforted that someone else was feeling excited and happy about the situation they were all in.  
  
Alfred started to talk about the pros and cons of having the right room versus the room on the left while Kiku analyzed his own reaction to the entire situation.  
  
He had been very nervous coming here, uprooting his life and betting everything on his dreams. He had been shutting down any thoughts of homesickness and worry for Yao. He had been doing decently, in his opinion, in terms of getting along with his new coworkers. His stress levels were higher than usual, but that was to be expected. He had been so caught up in his own personal dilemmas at home that he had not been able to truly appreciate the experience he was graciously given. Kiku felt very thankful and proud that he was able to achieve this much with his skills, to be invited and welcomed onto a professional team without much hassle. Luck probably had a large part in it, as Ludwig had been offered the original opportunity and passed it his way. Not to mention, the timing of it all was so perfect, almost serendipitous…  
  
Kiku startled to attention as he realized Alfred had placed a hand on his shoulder and was looking at him with concern,  
  
“Hey, Keeks, are you alright?”  
  
Kiku blinked at the name, and Alfred backtracked, “Uh, I mean, sorry, I just have a habit of shortening names of people I like, um, not in a weird way, but - well, for example, my brother’s name is Matthew, but I call him Mattie, right? He hates it, haha, anyway, I’m not sure how you feel about nicknames,” Alfred also hastily took his hand off his shoulder, “or contact, I’m not sure how you feel about that, I’m really sorry if I startled you, but you were staring off into space,” Alfred paused to take in a breath and Kiku felt he needed to interject, apologetically glancing up at his tall counterpart,  
  
“Alfred, it’s no problem at all. I apologize, I was thinking of the journey here and I allowed myself to get off track with my thoughts.” Kiku did not like nicknames usually, but he felt bad for the way he had ignored Alfred, “I’m fine with your choice of nickname. I, er, I’m not very good with physical touching, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it, especially in this house.” Kiku gave a small laugh as he stared down at his shoes.  
  
He was not used to admitting personal (potentially  _ weird _ ) quirks of his personality, and was feeling quite shy as a result. He did not want Alfred to think he was strange. Alfred had held himself with a charming sort of confidence up to this point and Kiku admired the way he wasn’t afraid to say what he thought.  
  
Alfred shuffled a little closer in front of him, peering closer at Kiku’s face, “Wow, haha, that’s the first time you laughed since you’ve been here,” Kiku found curious blue eyes in front of his own, and the words Alfred had said slowly began to register, but Alfred was already onto his next set, “I like it a lot! You have a very cute smile, so it definitely matches your laugh!”  
  
Kiku’s brain processed the words individually, then put them together, then considered the meaning of them.  
  
It did this twice, then the information was integrated into his system and his face started to process the information.   
  
Kiku normally prided himself on his poker face, but he had never tested it against such a strong situation. As a result, he was unable to control the rapid blush forming on his face.   
  


* * *

  
Alfred often said the first thing that came to his mind, and this was especially true for when he was nervous. Unfortunately, this time he said the first _ and  _ second thing that came to his mind.  
  
Alfred nearly said a third thing, but the Beings that controlled the universe were kind and he was able to suppress his thoughts on Kiku’s  _ blushingfaceholyheck- _ _  
_ _  
_ And so while he was still in control of his mouth, he gave Kiku a weak chuckle and turned tail, running into the closest room as he said, “See you at dinner!” _  
_ _  
_ Alfred slammed the door behind him, hoping he didn’t totally just ruin everything. He needed advice on how to shut up and not be dumb and embarrass himself in front of someone really cute. Alfred didn’t really know anyone who was good at being suave, but Mattie did say he could call him if he wanted anything, right?  
  
Maybe Mattie could just give him pointers on how to not say stupid things?  
  
After all, Mattie was the one who told him most often that he needed to shut up.  __  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm new to posting here. Been a lurker for about a decade now. Hope you like this idea! I love Overwatch, and I got back into Hetalia after almost a decade and don't you think these two go together so well?


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